Gazprom League of Russia

[BlackCats101]

Long considered a baseball wilderness, where non existent and collegiate levels teams had been prominent, in the year 2007 Russian gas giant Gazprom put forward a siginificant amount of capital in a gamble to launch the Gazprom League of Russian Baseball.

The league would involve clubs from across the vast nation, divided into two 'Western' and 'Eastern' leagues, comprising of four regional divisions as to reduce the amount of travelling for players, as well as to try and drum up some local rivalries that could be played out on a regular basis.

Because of the harsh weather conditions during the winter, especially in the far east, the league was expected to be played between the months of April and September. However for the 2007 season a mini-league was arranged starting play in February, as a way of testing whether a full league would ever be viable.

Each team had just thirty games scheduled, and a mini playoff system was devised to determine a winner, an idea initially slammed by critics, who argued that this made a mockery of competition.

Here is an overview of the teams, badges and uniforms and the league structure.

(Those teams marked with an asterisk are teams that have been formed as an extension of existing Russian sporting organisations, be it association football, ice hockey or basketball. It was decided that creating teams in this manner would ensure a certain level of existing support that could then be developed in interest in the league, as well as continuing old rivalries, and providing a solid financial base on which the league could have a chance to establish itself. As a result, many teams use their exisitng sports manufacturers to provide the uniform for their new baseball teams)


Western League

Moscow Region Division

CSKA Moscow*


Spartak Moscow*


Lokomotiv Yaroslavl*



Dynamo Moscow*




Western Region Division

SKA St. Petersburg*




Zenit St. Petersburg*



Rubin Kazan*




Nizhniy Novgorod BC





Eastern division teams, team histories, league schedule, and top players to watch coming soon...

[No Pepper]

Where are you Alexei Parfenyev?!?

This is great, best luck to you Black Cats, I'll be following

[BlackCats101]

Eastern League

Far Eastern Division

Luch Energiya Vladivostok*




Nakhodka Dazzle


Gazprom Irkutsk



Amur Khabarovsk*







Ural Division


BC Chelyabinsk



Novosibirsk Sibirtelecom




Fakel Krasnoyarsk



BC Irkutsk





Some background info:

Priding themselves on a traditional approach to the game, albeit an alien sport in the area, BC Irkutsk have simple and plain uniforms and a no-nonsense approach to the game.

They were initially announced as one of the team dues to be starting in the R-Superleague Baseball competition originally planned for 2006 but were one of the last teams to be confirmed in the new Gazprom league for 2007.

This was partly as a result of Gazprom's heavy sponsorship and input into forming a new team in the city named 'Gazprom Irkutsk'.

However as the original BC Irkutsk side already had the infrastructure and team in place to begin play in 2007, and Gazprom's preferred alternative league member Krasnodar was not yet set up satisfactorily, the league sponsors had to back down.

BC Irkutsk pride themselves on being the 'true' representative of the city, and sneer at their corporately funded city rivals. The rivalry looks set to be fierce right from the start of play.

Gazprom Irkutsk have significant financial input from the Russian oil firm, which is controversial given the companies sponsorship of the league for at least the first two years of play. However the Russian Baseball Federation have assured critics that they firmly hold the reigns as far as league structure and play are concerned.

Irkutsk may seem an unusual choice for Gazprom to found their own side in the league, but alongside the fact that it is much of a distance from many of their Siberian oil refineries, they were also aware that a baseball audience existed in the city thanks to the prior establishment of BC Irkutsk. However it appears that despite having a brand new 30,000 seater capacity stadium, Gazprom Irkutsk will have to work hard
to ensure regular numbers attend their games, with BC Irkutsk pro-actively declaring themselves as the real team of the city.

In the far east of the country Vladivostok claimed a Gazprom league place, again as an extension of the football club, Luch. They share a division with Dazzle Nakhodka, another club with a stronger support base after first being touted as a potential member team back in 2003. Novosibirsk have the backing of Siberian Mobile Telecoms company Sibirtelecom.

There are rumours of possible expansion clubs arriving in year 2 or 3 of the league's existence, but these have yet to be confirmed. However it is believed that the Federation have had visits with organsations in Krasnodar, Perm and Tomsk.

[toxicavenger74]

This looks awesome. Love the names.

[BlackCats101]

The teams were filled with free agents and existing players from across Russia's previous clubs and beyond via an inaugural draft held at the beginning of the year. Whilst there is still a strong Russian contingent, players from China, Japan and the Americas have made the leap into the unknown.

Spring training is now well underway, and initial attendances have been somewhat disappointing, but understandably so given the lack of any prominent league baseball history. This is also partly down to the lack of designated stadia for the teams to play in. With the exception of Gazprom Irkutsk, the vast majority of teams play in stadiums designed for football, or on artificial surfaces at larger sports complexes.

Some of the key players and best prospects are listed below:

Starting Pitchers:

#1 Alek Lahonin- SKA St Petersburg

Age: 24, Russian

A lefty pitcher considered to be the league's greatest talent. Will want to make a successful start in the trial series

Relievers:

#1 Fiers Sajnov- Nizhniy Novgorod

Age: 24, Russian

A monster at 6' 5", Sajnov has made a solid start to the Spring games, and will be a weapon in Novgorod's arsenal.

Batters:


#1 Vladilen Erdkop- Zenit St Petersburg

Age: 35, Russian. Position: 3B

A popular veteran with 13 years of baseballing experience behind him, Erdkop remains a very real threat to opposing pitchers and will provide valuable leadership for the Zenit side.
Signed on a short term deal, Erdkop could very well become a free agent again at the end of the year, so will be looking to impress in the trial series.


#2 Bohdan Medikov- SKA St Petersburg

Age: 26, Russian. Position: LF

Medikov is the poster boy of the SKA outfit, and he has been hitting homers left, right and centre so far this spring. Expected to be one of the players to give SKA a very real chance of reaching the Trial Series playoffs.

[Renner]

Very cool idea ! I have been playing a Russian League myself since the early days of OOTP7. I created a new first names file because I was not happy with the ones that came with the game - if you want, I can send you my updated first names file.

[cnield]

Very cool idea for a dynasty. Are the jerseys based on the football team kits for their respective clubs?

[BlackCats101]

Originally Posted by Renner

Very cool idea ! I have been playing a Russian League myself since the early days of OOTP7. I created a new first names file because I was not happy with the ones that came with the game - if you want, I can send you my updated first names file.

Yeah this would be great

Originally Posted by cnield

Very cool idea for a dynasty. Are the jerseys based on the football team kits for their respective clubs?

Some are, some I've tried to be more creative with, whatever took my fancy really.

I will write an update to this dynasty soon.

[Renner]

[quote=BlackCats101;2555533]Yeah this would be great
I would, but I can't figure how to do it. Do you have any ideas ?